The people of Spiti usually
ride their ponies using a wooden frame covered with specially made Tibetan
carpets in bright colours of blue, red, yellow, and green, sometimes
with stirrups, sometimes without. The carpets make for a very comfortable
ride, like a padded rocking chair.

The ponies are easy to handle
and very willing to go. They wear halters that are specially woven for
them and coloured ribbons are braided into their manes and tails to
signify that they are the Chamurthi, not any ordinary pony.

The locals have a unique style
of riding. They ride with their legs forward and sit back on the ponies.
There is basically no contact with the mouth. They tend to give them their
heads completely, trusting their intelligence and agility to negotiate
the rough terrain.

The
people of Pin Valley worship their ponies. They are a sacred animal, depicted
on their prayer flags flapping in the ever present winds that blow on the
high passes and through the valleys. Horse images are also seen in the paintings
that decorate the Buddhist monasteries found in the Spiti region.

In other areas of northwest India, ponies are mainly used as beasts of
burden to carry loads up and down the mountains. Not so here. Their ponies
are only ridden. The people of Pin Valley revere their ponies and would
never think of subjecting them to such a lowly task. Donkeys and yaks
are reserved for that purpose.

Everyone seems to own at least
3 or 4 ponies and there are far more ponies than people in this area.
Beside
their flat-roofed, white-washed houses are stone-walled enclosures where
the ponies are kept tied up, sometimes saddled ready to go at a moment's
notice. In the winter they are kept inside at night along with the other
animals – cattle, yaks, donkeys, sheep, and goats. The ground floor of
their homes is a stable and the upper floor the family quarters.

One peculiarity of the Himalayan
region is the tendency to tie up their ponies by one leg or to hobble
them. They get them used to this at a young age. If the ponies are not
needed for the day then they are sent out to graze away from the villages,
usually with someone to tend them. There are no fenced-in pastures here
and the ponies roam freely.

It is not unusual to see people
riding double on these calm, sturdy, sure-footed ponies, moving at a pace
or running walk, along the paths linking the various villages. This is
the the fastest means of transportation in the valley.